I made a game cause I felt like it, and well, your going to buy it.

Nintendo:

I think, despite what some of the journalists and pundits on the webs have said, that Nintendo had a strong showing; at least in as far as the Wii U is concerned. Their presentation may have sucked, but it was out-sucked by every other presenter this year. There were a pack of First Party games ready for play on the E3 floor, many of them looking to be first-day releases on the Wii U, or at least early releases on the Wii U. Some were better than others, but many of them were good, and a couple were pretty exciting.

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Pikman 3:

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6780918/the-nintendo-e3-conference-summarized

Pikman 3 is the longshot, niche game of the lineup. The people who actually played the original game(s), loved it. They remember it fondly as one of the few great games on the Gamecube. The Gamecube was an unfortunate graveyard for a couple series that really deserve a reboot. F-zero comes to mind. Before the announcement, Pikman was another possible casualty of the Gamecube fiasco. Is Nintendo making the same mistake they made with Pikman 1 on the Gamecube, and releasing an unknown IP as the launch title? Maybe, but they are couching it in a plethora of knowns. As one of our former defense secretaries once said “there are the known knowns… there are known unknowns”. Pikman 3 is in the latter category.

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New Super Mario Bros. U:

What's going on here?

Despite the ridiculous title, there is no question this will be a crowd pleaser. The concept is basic, with a light learning curve, and an “in the room” multiplayer that the non-core gamers love, and the Core gamers tolerate between “shoot’n stuff” sessions. If you have played any of the previous games, you are aware of the grief factor and its subsequent potential for hilarity. The true masters of the NSMB grief are the ones that won’t let you see it coming. This game is a no brainer, and alone would spell success for a Nintendo launch… but it’s not alone.

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Zombie U:

Look... you use this thing... it'll be great

Here is the proverbial Core gem that Nintendo has been looking for. Awkwardly enough I just don’t get excited about Zombies. It takes a lot more than that to get me going, but from all the hype on this game I am compelled to give it a look see. Ubisoft stands to benefit from the success of this title as well, by being one of the first pubs to get a game onto a recent Nintendo system that isn’t just a downgraded port of a game on a different system. The game uses the pad controller in the most all-encompassing way, making the controller a must for this game. I think the make or break question here will be control. Will it feel right to snipe a zombie with the controller, or shake off a brain hungry zombie with the bulky pad? Also, an important question is; will the constant switching between screens be an annoyance, or will it contribute to the scariness? Honestly, Zombies haven’t been scary in games since RE1 and 2 for me, but this game might change that.

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Ubisoft:

It could have been worse and more awkward... it could have been last year.

That brings us to Ubisoft, who despite their more than awkward conference had an oozing clutch of games to showcase this year, many of which look more than promising.

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Tomb Raider:

www.penny-arcade.com

Of note to me was Tomb Raider, which looks to be a close to complete make-over of gameplay, style and subject, compared with old Tomb Raider skus. This one is less about plat-forming puzzles, and shooty’ stuff; that apparently is more Uncharted’s thing nowadays. Tomb Raider seems to be a survival sim, replacing the traditional puzzles with survival based, organic puzzles. The only corollary I can think of was the semi-annoying mini-game stuff from Snake Eater. It would seem to be a little more interesting than that, but who knows at this point. The presenters talk about the first set of obstacles as hunting for food, finding shelter, and building a fire. The devs want the player to really feel bad as they have to kill their first animal then skin it (maybe?) and proceed to eat it. It’s a very pretty looking game, but I noticed it didn’t receive a lot of attention from my immediate friends and colleagues. I think this is one more of the known unknowns I was discussing earlier, and something to be watching going into 2012.

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Watch Dogs:

Watch Dogs looks to be the real story of the show, but what do we know about it so far. We know it’s attempting to bring a level of smooth integration of multiplayer, online gameplay, a persistent sand-box environment, and story/ game atmosphere; an aspect usually relegated to the single player portion of most games (not counting various “co-op” storylines and experiences). The protagonist(s?) seem to be modern revolutionaries/ criminals/ secret organizations. The antagonist seems to be the government/ corporations/ or some cabal of both (?). Surveillance, maintaining identity, security, cyber terrorism aka hacktivisim, espionage, and electronic connectivity all seem to set the conceptual backdrop of this “game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7WGAJPRRw)”, at least as it appears here. I heard people say it seems a little blade runner, which is vaguely accurate, in motif maybe. It reminds me a little more of 1984; meets Fight Club; meets the Matrix; meets the Communist Manifesto; meets Freejack? Any corollary seems a little forced, which bellies a uniqueness of concept.  Everybody I met was talking about this game, if no other. It goes without saying that this is THE game to watch.

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Bethesda:

Never had a bad launch, no sir-ee!

Bethesda is becoming the ‘make a wish’ producer for new IPs, and also becoming a graveyard for the same.

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Dishonered:

The devs have mentioned that this game will be reminiscent of Thief from back in the day; Deus Ex, Dark Mesiah…  A big aspect they seem to want to promote is creative usages of powers and items, that help the player complete missions. A player can possess animals or people.  One example mentioned by one of the devs in a recent interview was jumping off a building, possessing a guard down below, and then forcing the guard to break your fall. In true Bethesda fashion, they are taking a huge risk to see a very unique, but unknown game, get made. Hopefully, it will see fandom similar to the motif heavy, creepy thriller/ fps/ world of Bioshock. A lot of comparisons are being made to the rich artsy environments and character designs in Bioshock being somewhat of a proving ground for more games of a similar nature seeing the light of day. On the other hand Bethesda is getting a track record of major launch bug problems, I imagine from too early release dating, or simply a lack of production oversight and commitment to quality. The only truly successful series for Bethesda have been Fallout and Elder Scrolls, but those two have been successful enough to absorb some of the colossal mistakes of the past; Brink anyone?

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Activision:

Activision’s booth was kinda boring to me, mainly because I don’t care about Black Ops.

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Black Ops 2:

Oh, Hai there, I was in a movie, lolololol

I’m having a hard time caring about Black Ops 2. I haven’t really been interested in the series since MW1, and haven’t really respected the franchise since Activision fired the minds behind the series’ best work.  I won’t go to into detail about my problems with Call of Duty, except to say that the general consensus of the enthusiast media is apathy. There is a distinct cooling of hype, as happens to all Activision burn-n-turn franchises eventually. (Anyone remember the Hero games; Tony Hawk; Quake Wars; everything else they have ever done?) The general profitability of a game is certainly not determined by the media, but I think even the COD drones will get tired of more and more of “the same, but a little worse than the last” sequel model that the franchise has enjoyed since BO1.

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Microsoft:

Not that Major Nelson! #wakawaka

Microsoft is confused on which audience they wish to court, and is reluctantly balancing both. The Kinect does well, and franchises such as Gears and Halo continue to thrive. XB Live continues to grow as a service; with at least some things people actually want, so that’s still one-up on Sony.

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Halo 4:

By screens alone much life has been breathed into the Halo franchise. Anyone who is looking at those screens has got to be happy with the direction they are taking, visually. With Halo though the proof is always in the pudding, and that franchise is one bad iteration away from the same fate as COD. Luckily, to all but the most anti-halo people success has been a no-brainer for each of the Halo iterations (excepting ODST and Halo Wars, which were moderate successes in their own). The largest worry for this game is the fact that it is not Bungie. I’m not so sure that matters, when it comes to most gamers buying decision, but it might spell doom for what has been a very consistent level of quality and ingenuity that the series has enjoyed under Bungie’s reign.  Much of Microsoft’s “core” support is going to come from this being a “good” and well accepted game.

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Sony:

Umm... we have this thing.. .does anyone want.. this thing?

Sony is perpetually confused, and their confusion and bumble-y nature is baffling. Time after time they focus on the complete wrong thing, and somehow they break even. The PS3 and Vita have and will lose every war they are involved in as long as they refuse to be the lead on anything interesting, or novel. Everything they had this year was a reply to something another company had implemented. The move is a joke, and I don’t see the silver lining for the Vita. That being said a couple things interested me in this area of the show.

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Dust 514:

How much Dust? At least 514

What a novel idea, these Icelandic devs have, in Dust 514; but oh how not present they were at E3. Why isn’t Sony advertising this more? Why wasn’t there a demo of the cross-functionality of a PC Eve player blasting the FPS players in Dust 514? Instead they were show-casing the Dust 514’s move capabilities, which I couldn’t have been less interested in. Take my word for it, THIS is one of the most interesting ideas I saw on the E3 floor. It was only there first day so maybe this changed later in the show? Please comment if I am inaccurate with this assessment.

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The Last of Us:

When in doubt, shoot-in-face always works.

Another Zombie (-esque; you face plague-ridden-meanies in a post-apocolypse to be exact) game, or is it? What’s so special about this one? I think what’s unique about this one is the immersion into character that was revolutionized by games like Half Life 2. Immersion, and realism in as far as the character’s themselves speak to and about human traits; and humanity; human experience. Having that as a baseline in a story can engage very effectively and cause the tension to be that much more real. If they can pull it off, I think this is another game that looks to be a crowd-pleaser. I think it’s games like this that will start to bridge that gap between “core” and non-core gaming demographics. Naughty Dog has a history of being able to please both audiences (see Uncharted).  The rough and personal nature of the combat as well as the variety of tools/ weapons and possible combat scenarios will enrich the experience for the more hardcore fan. Dear Lord, does Sony need this as an exclusive. Unfortunately, it won’t be able to pull a miracle off alone, but maybe it will be enough to keep Sony afloat for another mediocre year.

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Lucas Arts:

While Lucas Arts has been able to sell its recent franchises well, it doesn’t have a great track record of making truly forward, unique titles, which keep people excited through multiple iterations. When Bioware is involved, those games are the exception, but when they are not, nothing they have done has excited me very much.

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Star Wars 1313:

Look explosions... I want to go there

A lot of buzz was buzzing around this game when I was on the floor. Apparently, this game will be M rated! Hmm, sorry I don’t fall in for those sorts of PR traps. Duke Nukem had that sort of marketing strategy and that game was borderline sociopathic in it’s rapacious motifs. So what is REALLY interesting about this game? Well for one you are not a Jedi, so lots of blaster fights. I must say the graphical quality is exquisite. The game takes place deep in the underground of Coruscant, which for followers of Star Wars lore is definitely a neat proposition. Unlike other entries in the Star Wars canon, the characters are morally grey instead of either good or evil. The game will be more or less an Uncharted style action game, with plat-forming elements, cutscene-y action movie explosions, I’m sure a couple Mexican standoffs, and possibly a damsel in distress. What’s also interesting about this game is that it has been scaled past the capabilities of the current gen, causing speculators to wonder about next-gen console announcements being inbound. Who really knows, and I will certainly be waiting for the reviews on this one.

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If you have read this far into the article, then kudos to you, and thanks for reading it. All in all, I didn’t go into E3 expecting it to be anything more than what it turned out to be, shameless promotion. Thus, I wasn’t disappointed, and I got a good idea of a lot of interesting titles coming out for the next year(s), as well as a flavor for gameplay trends up and coming.